Rocky Mountain Power asks Utah PSC to allow roughly $472 million interim EBA collection; DPU recommends approval pending audit

Rocky Mountain Power asked the Utah Public Service Commission during a hearing to allow interim rates to recover deferred 2024 net power costs totaling roughly $471.6–$472 million, proposing a 12-month collection beginning July 1, 2025, that the company said would raise the average Energy Balancing Account (EBA) rate by about 1.6 percent.

The request matters because the company and the Division of Public Utilities said the 2024 deferral is the largest EBA recovery on record and reflects multiple cost drivers that, if allowed on an interim basis, would change near-term customer bills while subject to later audit and a final commission decision.

Jack Painter, a net power cost adviser for PacifiCorp, summarized the company's filing and numbers. Painter said the company filed its annual EBA seeking recovery of $472,000,000 for calendar year 2024 and proposed interim rates with an effective date of July 1, 2025, that would be subject to later refund or surcharge. He also itemized components in the filing, including large EBA-related costs, credits for special-contract sales and electric-vehicle infrastructure program (EVIP) revenue, production tax credit (PTC) updates, and interest through the collection period. "I respectfully request that the commission approve the interim rates per the application with an effective date of 07/01/2025, subject to a rate refund or surcharge," Painter said.

Catherine Smith, counsel for Rocky Mountain Power, moved for admission of Painter's direct testimony and confidential work papers and noted the company had filed reply comments on June 5, 2025. The hearing officer admitted Painter's testimony and the reply comments into the record.

Robert Meredith, director of regulation for PacifiCorp, had direct testimony and exhibits (two marked confidential) admitted; Meredith did not offer a summary but was available for questions.

Gary Smith, a technical consultant with the Utah Division of Public Utilities (DPU), told the commission the division performed a preliminary review and concluded the requested interim collection is "more likely to reflect actual net power costs than current base rates." The division's filings, filed May 27, 2025 as DPU exhibits 1 and 2 and adopted into the record by Gary Smith, recommended the commission approve a 12-month collection period from July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026 and said the division would continue auditing the filing and present further findings in its final report. "Despite the identified inconsistencies, the division concludes that the company's requested interim rate increase is more likely to reflect actual net power costs than current base rates," Gary Smith summarized.

The division flagged several items for further detail. In its testimony and comments, the DPU said the company did not provide adequate detail on the calculation of the 2023 production tax credit adjustment and did not provide sufficient information to evaluate the company's inclusion of interest that would accrue during the 12-month collection period. In reply comments filed June 5, 2025, PacifiCorp provided a comparative analysis the company said shows an overall reduction of about $1,000,000 in EBA interest collections when collection-period interest is included in interim rates; the division said it would allow inclusion of collection-period interest in annual EBA filings but reiterated its request for supporting calculations.

Speakers on the record included the commission's presiding officer, Michael Hammer; Catherine Smith, counsel for Rocky Mountain Power; Ajay Kumar, co-counsel for the company; company witnesses Jack Painter and Robert Meredith (both employed by PacifiCorp); the DPU's representative, Patrick Griegue, assistant attorney general; the DPU witness Gary Smith; and Philip Russell of the Utah Association of Energy Users (which did not present a witness). There was limited cross-examination: the DPU and intervenor representatives had no questions for the company witnesses, and no final commission decision was announced at the hearing.

The record shows differing totals presented in testimony: Painter stated a $472,000,000 recovery amount and listed component figures in direct testimony, while the division's summary described the requested recovery as approximately $471,600,000. Both witnesses noted the request is larger than prior EBA filings and cited the same primary drivers: higher market purchase prices, decreased coal and hydro generation (including the conversion of Jim Bridger units 1 and 2 from coal to natural gas and the Klamath River hydro facility closures), higher natural gas prices, underperforming wind generation and associated unrealized PTCs, and an extreme weather event.

Formal admissions recorded in the hearing included the admission of Painter's direct testimony and confidential work papers and Rocky Mountain Power's June 5, 2025 reply comments; admission of Robert Meredith's direct testimony and exhibits (two confidential); and admission of the DPU's comments and DPU exhibits 1 and 2 filed May 27, 2025. No commission vote or order was issued at the hearing; the company's interim-rate request remains subject to further audit and a future hearing before the commission.

The commission hearing was adjourned after witnesses were excused and no further matters were raised. The docket number referenced in the hearing record was presented verbally as "2020Five-thirtyFive-one."